Stapling apparatus



Juiy' 29, 1969 J. SCHICK STAPLING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 24. 19s? INVENTOR J ULES SCHICK a kwwwfiam M United States Patent 48,597 Int. Cl. B25c /02, 7/00 US. Cl. 227-111 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A stapling apparatus for attaching clips to a belt which has an elongated working area bounded by opposite longitudinal faces of an anvil and of a cover freely movable toward and away from the anvil and by a clip-retaining rail, the fourth longitudinal side of the work area being open. A carriage supports a punch alignable with passages in the cover by movement of the carriage along the cover. Abutments limit movement of the carriage away from the work area when the punch is driven inward of the guide passages by a lever system mounted on the carriage and the punch.

Background of the invention The invention relates to stapling apparatus, and particularly to an apparatus for attaching hinge clips to a drive belt or conveyor belt.

The clips to be attached by the apparatus of this invention may be of the type disclosed in my copending application Ser. No. 497,640, filed on Oct. 19, 1965. The clips are strips of metal bent into a U-shape so that the edge of a belt may be received between the leg portions which have openings for passage of a staple for locking each clip to the belt. The spacedly aligned bight portions of the clips on one belt edge may be interengaged with those of similarly arranged clips on another belt, and a hinge pin may be passed through the interengaged clips to connect the two belts or belt ends.

Proper functioning of the hinged connection between the belt ends depends on precise alignment of the hinge clips. If the clips are not precisely aligned, destructive stresses are set up in the belts during operation. It is therefore important that the clips be precisely aligned on the belt prior to stapling, and that their alignment not be disturbed during stapling.

In some known stapling devices, the staples are driven through the-clips into the belt by a punch which moves in an arcuate path. The force exerted by the punch on the staple has a lateral component which tends to shift the clip relative to the belt and may start a break in the belt which is unavoidably enlarged during normal belt operation.

Other known stapling devices provide proper guidance for the punch only if the belt thickness is within a very narrow range of values. Heavier belts cannot be handled, and inadequate guidance only is provided for the stapling of lighter belts.

. The object of the invention is the provision of a stapling apparatus in which belts of different thickness may be stapled without causing relative movement of the clips and the belt during the stapling operation, and in which damage to the belt can be safely avoided.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing.

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Summary The stapling apparatus of the invention has an anvil and a cover having spacedly opposite faces. A row of passages through the cover is directed toward the face of the anvil. A clip holding rail which defines a row of pockets is mounted on a common support with the anvil and the cover, and defines with the same a Work area elongated in a common direction in which said faces extend. The pockets of the clip holding rail are open toward the work area, and the latter is open in a direction away from the clip holding rail.

A carriage is mounted on the support for movement in the afore-mentioned common direction outside the working area and carries a punch which is sequentially aligned with the passages in the cover during the movement of the carriage. Actuating means are provided for moving the punch relative to the carriage through an aligned passage of the cover inward of the working area.

Brief description of the drawing FIG. 1 shows a belt stapling apparatus of the invention in fragmentary rear elevation;

FIG. 2 illustrates the apparatus of FIG. 1 in side elevation and partly in section; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the same apparatus, portions thereof being broken olf to reveal internal structure.

Description of the preferred embodiment The belt stapling apparatus of the invention has a castiron base 1 of approximately C-shaped cross section on which an anvil 2 is fixedly fastened. The upwardly directed elongated face of the anvil 2 is provided with two longitudinal rows of depressions 3, 4.

Threaded bolts 5 engage longitudinally spaced, tapped, horizontal holes in the anvil 2 and fasten a clip retaining rail 6 to the anvil, and thereby to the supporting base 1. The rail 6 is a piece of sheet metal having a notched top edge to form a comb-like structure whose elements are bent into loops 7 which define uniformly spaced pockets 8 therebetween. The openings in the loops 7 are aligned slidably to receive a locking rod 9.

The flat heads 10 of the bolts 5 are partly cut away for the convenience of assembly, as best seen in FIG. 1, and guide vertical movement of a cover 11 toward a position in which the bolts 5 are received in respective vertical slots 12 of the cover. The cover his an elongated member of approximately T-shaped section, the slots 12 being formed in one of the flanges of the T-shape.

The Web 13 of the cover '11 is formed with a row of approximately square passages 14. When the cover is longitudinally secured on the support 1 by the bolts 5, each passage 14 is aligned with two depressions 3, two depressions 4, and one pocket 8 transversely of the common direction of elongation of the anvil 2, the cover 11, and the clip retaining rail 6 which normally bound the working area of the apparatus, the area being open in a direction away from the rail 6.

The flanges of the cover 11 engage grooves in an approximately C-shaped carriage 15 for guiding the carriage along the cover 11. A punch 16 is vertically guided in the carriage for movement through each passage 14 inward of the working area when the punch is aligned with the passage by movement of the carriage 15. The punch is actuated by two levers 17, 18 connected by a pivot pin 19. The long arms of the levers only partly seen in the drawing, carry non-illustrated hand grips. The short arms are attached to the carriage 15 and to the top end of the punch 16 by pins 20, 21 respectively. The pin 21 is guided in the carriage 15 in two slots 22.

Upward vertical movement of the carriage is not prevented bythe flanges of the cover 11, the cover being vertically slidable on the bolts 5. To limit upward movement of the carriage there is provided a threaded abutment 23 engageable with a cooperating abutment face on the base 1, and adjustable by turning its knurled head 24.

An arm hingedly attached to the carriage 15 pivotally supports a pawl 26 which is biased by a non-illustrated spring toward the position shown in FIG. 1.

The pawl 26 engages notches 27 on the upper flange of the cover 11. The spacing of the notches 27 equals that of the passages 14, and the arm 25 and pawl 26 are so dimensioned as to shift the carriage 15 along the cover 11 between successive positions of alignment of the punch 16 with the passages 14 during each downward swinging movement of the arm. The arm is biased upward by a non-illustrated return spring.

The afore-described apparatus is operated as follows:

The carriage 15 is removed from the base 1 by horizontal sliding movement, and the cover 11 may then be removed by lifting it from the bolts 5, thereby exposing the loops 7 and pockets 8 of the clip retaining rail 7. The bight portion of a clip 28 of approximately U-shaped cross section is then placed in each pocket 8, and the locking rod 9 is passed through the loops 7 and the clips 28. The edge of a belt 29 is then introduced from the open side into the working area and is inserted between the leg portions of the clips 28 until it abuts against the rod 9. The cover 11 is put in position next and rests under its own weight only on the top face of the belt 29.

A pair of U-shaped Wire staples is inserted in each passage 14 from above, as seen in FIG. 3, and its points enter bores in the associated clip 27. The carriage 15 is installed on the cover 11 in alignment of its punch '16 with the first passage 14 in the web 13. The long arms of the levers 17, 18 are swung toward each other on the pivot pin 19, and the punch 16 is moved inward of the working area through the aligned passage 14 whereby the two staples 30 in the passage are simultaneously driven through the belt 29 and bores in the opposite leg of the clip 17 into depressions 3, 4 of the anvil, and are thereby bent over as seen in FIG. 2, whereupon the punch 16 is withdrawn upward.

The carriage 15 is moved stepwise by the arm 25 and pawl 26 along the cover 11, and the afore-described stapling operation is repeated at each passage 14. The carriage 15 ultimately is moved horizontally from the cover 11, and the cover 11 is lifted off. The belt 29 having a row of aligned clips 27 attached to its transverse terminal edge is then removed readily. Two belt edges may be hingedly connected with each other by interengaging the respective rows of clips and passing a hinge pin through the same, as is described in more detail in the afore-mentioned copending application.

While the apparatus described above has been found very effective in mounting hinge clips on the transverse edges of belts of any width, including drive belts for machinery and conveyor belting, its structure may be modified in many respects without affecting its basic mode of operation.

More specifically, the cover 11 may be secured against longitudinal movement on the supporting base 1 in a manner different from that illustrated while still permitting its vertical movement for adjustment to belts of different thickness and for convenient removal. The carriage may be guided for longitudinal movement on the base 1 by means other than the flanges of the cover 11. The cooperating abutments which limit upward movement of the carriage 15 under the reactive forces generated when the staples 30 are driven through the belt 29 may be located and arranged differently.

It should be understood, therefore, that the foregoing disclosure relates only to a preferred embodiment of the invention and that it is intended to cover all changes and modifications of the example of the invention herein chosen for the purpose of the disclosure which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A stapling apparatus comprising, in combination:

"(a) a support;

(b) anvil means on said support having a face;

(0) a cover member mounted on said support,

(1) said cover member having a face spacedly opposite the face of said anvil means and being formed with a row of passages therethrough, said passages being directed toward said face of the anvil means;

(d) clip holding means mounted on said support defining a row of clip receiving pockets,

(1) said faces and said rows extending in a common direction,

(2) said faces and said clip holding means bounding a working area elongated in said direction and open in a direction away from said clip holding means, said pockets being open toward said work area;

(e) a carriage mounted on said support for movement outside said area in said direction;

(f) a punch mounted on said carriage for sequential alignment with said passages during said movement of the carriage; and

(g) actuating means for moving said punch relative to said carriage through an aligned passage inward of said working area.

2. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said actuating means are interposed between said punch and said carriage, whereby a force opposite to the direction of punch movement is exerted on said carriage during said inward movement of the punch; the apparatus further comprising cooperating abutment means on said support and on said carriage for limiting movement of the carriage by said force.

3. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1, further comprising indexing means for moving said carriage in said common direction in uniform steps corresponding to the spacing of said passages, each passages being aligned transversely of said direction with one of said clip receiving pockets.

4. An apparatus as set forth in claim 3, wherein said indexing means include a member secured on said support against movement in said direction, said member being formed with a plurality of recesses uniformly spaced in said direction, and pawl means on said carriage.

5. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1, further comprising guide means mounting said cover member on said support for movement toward and away from said face of the anvil means.

6. An apparatus as set forth in claim 5, wherein said guide means include a plurality of pin members fastened to said support and extending transversely of said common direction, said cover member being formed with slots respectively receiving said pin members, each slot being elongated in the direction of movement of said punch.

7. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said clip holding means has a plurality of loop portions spacedly juxtaposed in said common direction and defining said clip receiving pockets therebetween, and locking member slidably received in said loop portions and passing through said pockets in said direction.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,915,754 12/1959 Wandel 227----l11 X 3,170,161 2/1965 Regan et al 227-455 X TRAVIS S. MCGEHEE, Primary Examiner US. (:1. X.R. 227 

